Russian authorities confirm the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the paramilitary Wagner group
Hand grenade fragments were found in the bodies of victims of the Wagner Group plane crash that killed 10 people in August. The information comes from the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, who made a statement this Thursday (5).
One of the victims was Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner Group.
Prigozhin, leader of the Wagner Group, uses the hammer as a tool of torture and power
On August 23, an Embraer plane carrying ten people from Moscow to Saint Petersburg crashed shortly after takeoff.
The plane belonged to the Wagner Group, a force of Russian mercenaries. Prigozhin was their boss.
He was also a major player in the Ukrainian War, as the private army was one of the forces Russia deployed in the neighboring country. He recruited thousands of criminals from Russian prisons.
In June, Wagner mercenaries mutinied against the Russian forces.
After the failed coup attempt, Putin declared on June 24 that he had been the victim of treason and had been “stabbed in the back.”
Prigozhin stated that he did not intend to overthrow Putin, but rather Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov.
The Russian government gave the mercenaries three options at the time:
- Integrate Russian forces.
- Return to civilian life.
- Exile in Belarus.
Months later, Prigozhin died and Putin ordered the Wagner fighters to take an oath of loyalty to the Russian state. Prigozhin had always refused to provide this proof of loyalty.